1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink recharge system capable of repeatedly recharging a proper amount of ink in an ink cartridge using magnetostrictive displacement transducers, and a method of recharging ink in the ink cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Empty ink cartridges are recycled since the price of ink cartridges that are consumption goods are relatively high compared with the price of the main bodies of inkjet printers and interests in protection of environments have increased. In order to recycle the ink cartridge, a user purchases ink to inject the ink into the used ink cartridge using a simple tool, purchases a substitute ink cartridge whose specification is the same as the specification of the ink cartridge mounted in the main body of the inkjet printer when the inkjet printer was purchased to mount the ink cartridge in the inkjet printer, or purchases a recharge ink cartridge suitable for the inkjet printer to repeatedly recharge the ink cartridge.
As a method of recharging ink in the used ink cartridge, an ink cartridge recharge system designed to let a specialized businessman provide an ink recharge service to a consumer is disclosed in the Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2003-69596 (published on Aug. 27, 2003). The ink cartridge recharge system is designed to recharge ink by simply manipulating switches manipulation after mounting an ink cartridge out of which ink is consumed in a cartridge mount hole. Other than the above, a plurality of methods of injecting black ink through a nozzle having a single injection hole are well known. However, in the case of a color ink cartridge, a method of injecting ink by a needle through an additional recharge hole is mainly used and a method of injecting ink of a plurality of colors through nozzles having a plurality of injection holes is not commonly used.
Next, an ink cartridge recharge system 100 disclosed in the above Korean Patent Publication that is a conventional prior art will be simply described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the conventional ink cartridge recharge system 100. The ink cartridge recharge system 100 includes cartridge mount holes 110 in which ink cartridges are mounted, reservoirs 120 for temporarily storing ink to supply the ink to the ink cartridges through ink injection tubes 101, ink tanks 140 for supplying ink to the reservoirs 120 through ink supply tubes 102, and cylinders 130 connected to compression pumps 150 through air tubes.
The operation of the ink cartridge recharge system 100 will be described as follows. When switches 104 are turned on after mounting the ink cartridges in the cartridge mount holes 110, pistons (not shown) provided in the cylinders apply pressure to the reservoirs 120 by the air pressure from the compression pumps so that the ink is supplied to the ink cartridges. When the ink is completely recharged, the pressure in the cylinders 130 and the reservoirs 120 is reduced so that the ink is supplied from the ink tanks 140 to the reservoirs 120 and that it is ready to inject the ink next time.
In the ink cartridge recharge system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, the three ink injection tubes 101 and the three ink supply tubes 102 are for supplying cyan ink, magenta ink, and yellow ink and check valves 101a and 102a are provided in each of the ink injection tubes 101 and the ink supply tubes 102 so that the ink supplied to ink cartridges 1 and the reservoirs 120 does not flow backward. Storage spaces in the ink tanks 140, the cylinders 130, and the reservoirs 120 are provided for the respective colors.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cartridge mount hole 110 includes a body 111 in which the ink cartridge 1 is settled, an ink injection part 112 to which nozzles 2 of the ink cartridge 1 are attached, and a cartridge fix part 120 positioned on the opposite side to the nozzle 2. The cartridge fix part 120 is designed so that a sliding bar 122 moves forward and backward by a link 123 when a handle 121 is rotated upward and downward. An elastic member 124 is combined with the leading end of the sliding bar 122 so that excessive force is not applied to the ink cartridge 1 when the ink cartridge 1 is fixed. Ink injection holes 113 corresponding to the nozzles 2 are formed in the ink injection part 112 attached to the nozzles 2 of the ink cartridge 1. The ink injection tubes 101 are connected to the ink injection holes 113 by connectors 115.
The above-described ink cartridge recharge system has the following limitations although it has an advantage in that ink can be recharged by simply manipulating the switches after the ink cartridges are mounted in the cartridge mount holes.
That is, in the case where the ink is recharged through the nozzles of the ink cartridge using the air pressure as illustrated with reference to the ink cartridge recharge system 100, when the ink is completely recharged, the internal pressure (the pressure generated by the air that exists in the ink cartridge and the injected ink) of the ink cartridge 1 becomes larger than the air pressure. Therefore, when the ink cartridge 1 in which the ink is completely recharged is attached to and detached from the cartridge mount hole 110, the ink in the ink cartridge 1 is blown off through the nozzles 2 or the ink that exists in spaces between the nozzles 2 and the ink injection part 112 overflows so that the nozzles and the cartridge mount hole 110 are covered with the ink.
The ink cartridge 1 is divided into a sponge type and a pack type in accordance with a method of storing ink therein. In particular, in the case of the pack type, the ink leaks or an excessive amount of ink is sprayed through the nozzles at the initial stage of printing due to increase in the internal pressure caused by the air that resides in the ink cartridge after the ink is completely recharged so that the quality of printing deteriorates. In order to prevent such a problem, when the ink is completely recharged in the ink cartridge, it is necessary to take out small amounts of the air and ink that reside in the ink cartridge to regulate the internal pressure of the ink cartridge. However, according to the ink cartridge recharge system 100, it is difficult to regulate the internal pressure of the ink cartridge.
Furthermore, it is difficult to apply the ink cartridge recharge system 100 to ink cartridges having various shapes and capacities. That is, whenever the kind of the ink cartridge mounted in the cartridge mount hole 110 changes, it is necessary to previously regulate the length of the sliding bar 122 so that proper fixation force is applied to the ink cartridge. Also, in order to inject ink having the amount suitable for the capacity of the mounted ink cartridge, since it is necessary to regulate ink supply amount regulators 131 to regulate the displacement of the pistons in the cylinders 130, it is difficult to inject a proper amount of ink.
According to the ink cartridge recharge system 100, since only the check valves 101a are provided in the ink injection tubes 101 so that the ink does not flow backward to the reservoirs 120, a small amount of ink resides in the ink injection holes 113 after the ink cartridge is completely recharged. Therefore, when the corresponding cartridge mount hole 110 is not used for a moment after the ink is recharged, the quality of injected ink may deteriorate due to the ink that resides in the ink injection holes 113. When the ink whose quality deteriorates is recharged in the ink cartridge, the quality of printing deteriorates and the nozzles of the ink cartridge may be clogged.